Ron's Home

We got home from the hospital today, and Ron is doing well. The surgeon said
there was more damage than the MRI showed, so the repair means his recovery
will be longer than expected. He repaired the tear in his knee, but there
was also what he calls a "pot hole" on the bone, so he drilled holes in it
in hopes that scar tissues would grow into it and help protect it from
rubbing. Had he not done that, he anticipated that Ron would have arthritis
in it pretty badly pretty soon.

This changes our whole plan. Ron will have to be on crutches (or "crunches" according to Clarissa) for four weeks now, instead of one week, and it's non-weight bearing until he sees his doctor in two weeks. He's going to try to go back to work after that (in two weeks), with the understanding that he has to use his crutches, but it will depend on what the doctor thinks when he sees him. The dr. is open to
him going back to work if he can trust Ron to follow directions. Therein lies the problem.

We've ordered a CPM machine, which will hopefully be delivered tomorrow.
The idea is that using this so soon after surgery will prevent scar tissue
from developing, and the problem of stiffness would not be a concern. He is also getting this brace that pushes super cold water through it to ice his leg. It better work, because it is costing me A LOT!!!!!

He's pretty loopy right now, and I plan to keep him drugged for the first
two days. He said on the way home that he wasn't going to take pain
medication if he felt good later, but I told him that wasn't an option. Dr.
said to stay ahead of it for 48 hours, then as needed, so that's what we're
doing. Plus, he's grumpy when he's in pain!

So, that's about it. He's doing well, but he's just bummed about the longer
recovery.